Bone cement has been used in the treatment of skeletal fractures, repair of skeletal and dental cavities, and fixation of total joint replacement and other implants for over fifty years. Currently, there are a variety of bone cement products, such as, polymethylacrylate or PMMA.
There are also a variety of mixing devices for the bone cement products. Many surgeons mix cement by hand in a bowl using a spatula. However, open hand mixing entraps air bubbles. The trapped air bubbles make the cement porous and adversely affect the mechanical properties of the cement. In recent years, vacuum mixing devices have been introduced where the mixing is performed in a closed container under vacuum to reduce porosity in the bone cement. However, the actual mixing is still conducted manually. The manual mixing creates non-uniform mixing and inconsistent quality of the final product. Furthermore, mechanical stirring devices may involve manual handling in removing the stirrer. This exposes the bone cement product to non-sterile surroundings and may introduce harmful materials into the product.
Other methods for mixing bone cement products include mixing the cement by releasing two components, a liquid and a powder, such that the two components merge into each other through divided vacuum packed plastic bags. Final mixing takes place by manipulating the flexible bags. Still other devices strike a container while the liquid and powder components are brought together under a vacuum. A removable stirrer is used.
None of these devices or methods provides uniformly consistent results that can be automated or controlled. None of these devices or methods provides predictable and optimal results independent of the variability of the user.
Needs exist for new devices for mixing bone cement and methods for mixing that improve consistency between users and optimize the mechanical characteristics of the bone cement.